Council AGENDA
Monday, 16th December 2019 at 7.15pm Council Chamber, Braintree District Council, Causeway House, Bocking End, Braintree, CM7 9HB
THIS MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (Please note this meeting will be webcast and audio recorded) www.braintree.gov.uk
Members of the Council are requested to attend this meeting to transact the business set out in the Agenda.
Membership:- Councillor J Abbott Councillor P Horner Councillor Mrs J Sandum Councillor J Baugh Councillor D Hume Councillor Miss V Santomauro Councillor Mrs J Beavis Councillor H Johnson Councillor Mrs W Scattergood Councillor D Bebb Councillor Mrs A Kilmartin Councillor Mrs W Schmitt Councillor K Bowers Councillor D Mann Councillor P Schwier Councillor G Butland Councillor T McArdle Councillor Mrs G Spray Councillor J Coleridge Councillor J McKee Councillor P Tattersley Councillor G Courtauld Councillor A Munday Councillor P Thorogood Councillor Mrs M Cunningham Councillor Mrs I Parker Councillor N Unsworth Councillor T Cunningham Councillor Mrs J Pell Councillor R van Dulken Councillor Mrs C Dervish Councillor I Pritchard Councillor D Wallace Councillor P Euesden Councillor M Radley Councillor T Walsh Councillor T Everard Councillor R Ramage Councillor Mrs L Walters Councillor Mrs D Garrod Councillor S Rehman Councillor Miss M Weeks Councillor A Hensman Councillor F Ricci Councillor Mrs S Wilson Councillor S Hicks Councillor B Rose Councillor J Wrench Councillor B Wright
Members unable to attend the meeting are requested to forward their apologies for absence to the Governance and Members Team on 01376 552525 or email [email protected] by 3pm on the day of the meeting.
A WRIGHT Chief Executive
Page 1 of 48 INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS - DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, Other Pecuniary Interest or Non- Pecuniary Interest Any member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, other Pecuniary Interest or Non- Pecuniary Interest must declare the nature of their interest in accordance with the Code of Conduct. Members must not participate in any discussion of the matter in which they have declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or other Pecuniary Interest or participate in any vote, or further vote, taken on the matter at the meeting. In addition, the Member must withdraw from the chamber where the meeting considering the business is being held unless the Member has received a dispensation from the Monitoring Officer. Question Time The Agenda allows for a period of up to 30 minutes when members of the public can speak. Members of the public wishing to speak are requested to register by contacting the Governance and Members Team on 01376 552525 or email [email protected] by midday on the working day before the day of the Committee meeting. For example, if the Committee Meeting is due to be held on a Tuesday, the registration deadline is midday on Monday, (where there is a bank holiday Monday you will need to register by midday on the previous Friday).
The Council reserves the right to decline any requests to register to speak if they are received after this time. Members of the public can remain to observe the public session of the meeting.
Please note that there is public Wi-Fi in the Council Chamber, users are required to register in order to access this. There is limited availability of printed agendas.
Health and Safety Any persons attending meetings in the Council offices are requested to take a few moments to familiarise themselves with the nearest available fire exit, indicated by the fire evacuation signs. In the event of an alarm you must evacuate the building immediately and follow all instructions provided by officers. You will be assisted to the nearest designated assembly point until it is safe to return to the building.
Mobile Phones Please ensure that your mobile phone is switched to silent during the meeting in order to prevent disturbances.
Webcast and Audio Recording Please note that this meeting will be webcast and audio recorded. You can view webcasts for up to 6 months using this link: http://braintree.public-i.tv/core/portal/home
Documents Agendas, reports and minutes for all the Council's public meetings can be accessed via www.braintree.gov.uk We welcome comments from members of the public to make our services as efficient and effective as possible. If you have any suggestions regarding the meeting you have attended, you can send these via [email protected]
Page 2 of 48 PUBLIC SESSION Page 1 Apologies for Absence
2 Minutes of the Previous Meeting To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of Full Council held on 7th October 2019 (copy previously circulated).
3 Declarations of Interest To declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, other Pecuniary Interest or Non-Pecuniary Interest relating to items on the agenda having regard to the Code of Conduct for Members and having taken appropriate advice where necessary before the meeting.
4 Public Question Time (See paragraph above)
5 To receive any announcements/statements from the Chairman and/or Leader of the Council.
6 Presentation of Long Service Award to Kathy Carpenter To present Kathy Carpenter with a Long Service Award in recognition of 40 years service.
7 Presentation of the Essex Playing Field Awards Presentation by Councillor Mrs Schmitt of the Essex Playing Field Awards.
8 Motion by Councillor Graham Butland 5 - 5
9 Motion by Councillor James Abbott 6 - 6
10 Recommendation from Cabinet – 2nd December 2019 – 7 - 8 Council Tax – Collection Fund Surplus – Allocation to Town and Parish Councils
11 Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan - Adoption 9 - 14
Page 3 of 48 12 Reports from the Leader and Cabinet Members To receive the following reports from each Portfolio Holder.
Oral Questions to the Cabinet: Members are reminded that following the presentation of each Cabinet Member’s report, Members may put questions to the Cabinet Member on matters relating to their portfolio, the powers and duties of the Council or the District. Questions are not restricted to the contents of the Cabinet Member's report.
Where a verbal response cannot be given, a written response will be issued to all Members. (Council Procedure Rules 29.1 to 29.4 apply).
A period of up to 1 hour is allowed for this item.
12a Councillor G Butland - Leader of the Council 15 - 18
12b Councillor D Bebb - Finance and Performance 19 - 21
12c Councillor K Bowers - Homes 22 - 23
12d Councillor T Cunningham - Economic Development and 24 - 26 Infrastructure
12e Councillor J McKee - Corporate Transformation 27 - 30
12f Councillor F Ricci - Communities, Culture and Tourism 31 - 33
12g Councillor Mrs W Schmitt - Environment and Place 34 - 38
12h Councillor Mrs G Spray - Planning 39 - 41
12i Councillor P Tattersley - Health and Wellbeing 42 - 46
13 List of Public Meetings Held Since Last Council Meeting 47 - 48
Page 4 of 48 COUNCIL 16 th December 2019
Motion by Councillor Graham Butland Agenda No: 8
Motion presented by: Councillor Graham Butland Motion seconded by: Councillor James Abbott Motion supported by: Councillor Mrs Jackie Pell Councillor David Mann Councillor Tom Cunningham
Motion:
Braintree District Council is signed up to the Essex Faith Covenant which is a joint commitment to a shared set of principles that guide engagement between faith communities and the public services. It aims to promote open, practical working and strengthen community cohesion. The Essex Faith Covenant principles are:
• Faith communities are free to practice their beliefs and religious observances, and to raise their voice in public debate and to be respected, within the framework of UK law. • Public services and faith-based social action should respect service users from all backgrounds, without discrimination. • The voice, participation and solutions that faith communities bring are important and good engagement with the public services should enable them to be brought to bear for the benefit of the wider community.
Braintree District is rightly proud of its efforts to tackle discrimination in all forms but the Council, in the light of the rise of antisemitism in recent years across the United Kingdom, agrees to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) guidelines on antisemitism which defines antisemitism thus:
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
This Council resolves to:
• Reconfirm its commitment to the Essex Faith Covenant. • Restate its condemnation of all forms of racism in all its manifestations, including Islamophobia. • Adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism as the working model for challenging and confronting incidents of this form of racism.
Appropriate Notice of the Motion has been given to the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedural Rule 18 of Chapter 2 of the Constitution.
Page 5 of 48 COUNCIL 16 th December 2019
Motion by Councillor James Abbott Agenda No: 9
Motion presented by: Councillor James Abbott Motion seconded by: Councillor Mrs Jenny Sandum Motion supported by: Councillor Mrs Joanne Beavis Councillor Tom Walsh Councillor Bob Wright Councillor Miss Michelle Weeks Councillor Stevie Hicks Councillor Nick Unsworth Councillor Paul Thorogood
Motion:
Trees, hedgerows and wooded areas Motion
This Council agrees that in delivering on its commitments to tackling climate change and to support the protection and enhancement of biodiversity, it will:
• Draw up plans working with key partners to substantially increase tree planting in Braintree District on public and private land. • Use its powers and influence to protect existing trees, hedgerows and woodlands to the best of its ability.
Appropriate Notice of the Motion has been given to the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedural Rule 18 of Chapter 2 of the Constitution.
Page 6 of 48 COUNCIL 16th December 2019
Recommendation from Cabinet – 2nd December 2019 – Agenda No: 10 Council Tax – Collection Fund Surplus – Allocation to Town and Parish Councils
Portfolio Finance and Performance Management Corporate Outcome: A high performing organisation that delivers excellent and value for money services Delivering better outcomes for residents and businesses and reducing costs to taxpayers Report presented by: Councillor David Bebb, Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance Report prepared by: Chloe Waight, Governance Business Officer
Background Papers: Public Report
Reports and Minutes of Cabinet – 2nd December 2019 Key Decision: No
DRAFT MINUTE EXTRACT
CABINET – 2ND DECEMBER 2019
32 COUNCIL TAX – COLLECTION FUND SURPLUS – ALLOCATION TO TOWN AND PARISH COUNCILS
INFORMATION: Members were advised that the Council’s budget setting process included estimating the amount of Council tax expected to be collected. Variation from the estimate would result in either a surplus or deficit on the Council Tax Collection Fund which would be either returned to, or requested from council taxpayers in the following year. The surplus or deficit was allocated between the four major preceptors: Essex County Council, Braintree District Council and Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Policing & Community Safety and for Fire and Rescue Authority.
It was reported that the estimated balance on the Council Tax Collection Fund available for distribution in 2020/21 was a surplus of £1,229,000, and would be allocated as follows; Essex County Council would receive £888,303, Braintree District Council would receive £155,120, Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Policing & Community Safety would receive £134,919 and Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner – Fire and Rescue Authority would receive £50,658.
The District Council’s proportion of the council tax surplus, to be returned to council taxpayers in 2020/21 was £155,120. Since 2015/16, when the surplus
Page 7 of 48 allocated to the Council first exceeded £100,000, the Council had agreed to allocate part of its surplus to the Town and Parish Councils. The allocations were made in proportion to each Council’s precept for the current year. The allocation calculated for Town and Parish Councils for 2020/21 was £29,450. This compared to the surplus returned to council taxpayers in 2019/20 of £113,625 (of which £21,040 was returned via payments to the Town and Parish Councils).
DECISION: That Cabinet agreed:
1. To recommend to Full Council that a total of £29,450 of the surplus on the Council Tax Collection Fund be allocated to parish/town councils in 2020/21, as detailed in the Appendix to the report.
REASON FOR DECISION: To agree the allocation of the surplus on the Council Tax Collection Fund for 2020/21 in advance of the Council’s own Budget setting process in order that the parish/town councils can be notified in sufficient time to enable this resource to be discussed as part of their budget and precept setting process for 2020/21.
Recommended Decision:
That Full Council agrees that a total of £29,450 of the surplus on the Council Tax Collection Fund be allocated to parish/town councils in 2020/21, as detailed in the Appendix to the report.
Purpose of Decision:
To agree the allocation of the surplus on the Council Tax Collection Fund for 2020/21 in advance of the Council’s own Budget setting process in order that the parish/town councils can be notified in sufficient time to enable this resource to be discussed as part of their budget and precept setting process for 2020/21.
Page 8 of 48 COUNCIL 16 th December 2019
Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan - Adoption Agenda No: 11
Portfolio Planning and Housing Corporate Outcome: A sustainable environment and a great place to live, work and play A well connected and growing district with high quality homes and infrastructure A prosperous district that attracts business growth and provides high quality employment opportunities Report presented by: Cllr Gabrielle Spray, Cabinet Member for Planning Report prepared by: Alan Massow, Principal Planning Policy Officer
Background Papers: Public Report
Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan (2019) Key Decision: Yes Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan - Decision Statement (2019) Report to Braintree District Council of the Independent Examination (2019) Declaration of result – Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan (28th November 2019) Localism Act (2011) The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004)
Executive Summary:
Hatfield Peverel Parish Council have been working to produce a Neighbourhood Plan. The Neighbourhood Plan, once agreed, can be used in the determination of planning applications within the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Area.
Following a positive referendum result, Braintree District Council is proposing to publish its decision to “make” the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan as part of the Braintree District Council’s Development Plan in accordance with regulation 19 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. This decision notice is at appendix 1 to this report.
Recommended Decision:
That the Decision Statement attached at Appendix 1 is approved, and the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan “made” under section 38A(4) of the 2004 Act.
Page 9 of 48
Purpose of Decision:
To enable the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan to be used in the determination of planning applications within Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Area.
Any Corporate implications in relation to the following should be explained in detail.
Financial: No matters arising out of this report.
Legal: The adoption of the Neighbourhood Plan could be subjected to legal challenge.
Safeguarding: No matters arising out of this report.
Equalities/Diversity: No impacts identified.
Customer Impact: Once adopted the policies contained in the Plan will be used to determine planning applications within the parish.
Environment and This has been considered throughout the production of the Climate Change: Neighbourhood Plan.
Consultation/Community The Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan has been subject Engagement: to public consultation and referendum.
Risks: The adoption of the Neighbourhood Plan could be subject to legal challenge. If a decision is not made within 8 weeks of the referendum, the decision could be called in by the Secretary of State.
Officer Contact: Alan Massow Designation: Principal Planning Policy Officer Ext. No: 2577 E-mail: [email protected]
Page 10 of 48 1 Introduction
1.1 Hatfield Peverel Parish Council, as the qualifying body, applied for its parish to be designated as a Neighbourhood Area under part 2 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. The Neighbourhood Area was designated on the 30th March 2015.
1.2 Following the submission and consultation on the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan to the District Council, Braintree District Council in agreement with the Parish Council appointed an independent examiner Mary O’Rourke BA(Hons) DipTP MRTPI to review if the Neighbourhood Plan met the basic conditions required in legislation, and whether or not it should proceed to referendum.
1.3 The Examiner agreed that subject to modifications the Plan could proceed to referendum as it met the necessary “basic conditions” as set out in her report of July 2019.
1.4 The Neighbourhood Plan (amended in line with the examiner’s proposed modifications) was the subject of a referendum held on Thursday 28th November 2019. 92.66% of those who voted, voted in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan. Paragraph 38(4)(a) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (As amended) requires that the District Council must “make” the Neighbourhood Plan if more than half of those voting have noted in favour of the Plan unless this would breach or would otherwise be incompatible with an EU obligation or any any of the Convention rights (within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998).
1.5 It should be noted that the Neighbourhood Plan Area for Hatfield Peverel is different to the current boundary as it was originally designated before boundary changes took effect in the area. The neighbourhood area can be amended to match the current parish boundary with agreement of the Parish Council. This can be done through an exchange of letters.
2 Decision and Reasons
2.1 With the Examiner’s proposed modifications, the Neighbourhood Plan is judged to have met the basic conditions laid down in paragraph 8 (2) of Schedule 4B of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990, is compatible with EU obligations and the convention rights and complies with the relevant provisions made by or under Section 38A and B of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 as amended.
2.2 The referendum held on Thursday 27th June 2019 met the requirements of the Localism Act 2011, it was held in the neighbourhood area of Hatfield Peverel and posed the questions;
“Do you want Braintree District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Hatfield Peverel to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
Page 11 of 48
2.3 The result of the referendum was:
Response Votes Cast Percentage of total votes cast YES 847 92.66% NO 66 7.22%
2.4 The District Council agrees that the Neighbourhood Plan, including its preparation, and conclude that it does not breach or would otherwise be incompatible with, any EU obligation or any of the Convention rights (within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998) and has passed referendum.
2.5 Therefore, in accordance with the relevant Regulations, it is recommended that the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan is “made” and shall form part of the Development Plan for Braintree District Council.
3 Further Steps
3.1 Under Regulation 19 once the Decision Statement has been agreed, the Council must publish it, and publish details of where it may be inspected, as well as send a copy of it to the qualifying body, and notify anyone who asked to be notified of the decision. It must also publish the Neighbourhood Development Plan in a similar fashion under Regulation 20. This notification will be carried out through the Council page in the local press.
4 Recommendation
4.1 That the Decision Statement attached at Appendix 1 is approved, and the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan “made” under section 38A(4) of the 2004 Act.
Page 12 of 48 Appendix 1 – Decision Statement
Braintree District Council
Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan – Regulation 19 Decision Statement
December 2019
Summary Following a positive referendum result, Braintree District Council is publishing its decision to “make” the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan 2015- 2033 as part of the Braintree District Council’s Development Plan in accordance with regulation 19 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012.
Background Hatfield Peverel Parish Council as the qualifying body, applied for its parish to be designated as a Neighbourhood Area under part 2 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. The Neighbourhood Area was designated 30th March 2015.
Following the submission of the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan to the District Council, it was publicised and comments invited from the public and stakeholders.
Braintree District Council in agreement with the parish council appointed an independent examiner Mary O’Rourke Mary O’Rourke BA(Hons) DipTP MRTPI, to review if the Neighbourhood Plan met the basic conditions required in legislation and whether or not it should proceed to referendum.
The examiner’s report concluded that, subject to certain modifications proposed in his report of July 2019, the Plan met the basic conditions and could therefore proceed to a local referendum.
The Neighbourhood Plan (amended in line with the examiner’s proposed modifications) was the subject of a referendum held on Thursday 28th November 2019. 92.66% of those who voted, voted in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan. Paragraph 38(4)(a) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (As amended) requires that the District Council must “make” the Neighbourhood Plan if more than half of those voting have noted in favour of the Plan unless this would breach or would otherwise be incompatible with an EU obligation or any any of the Convention rights (within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998).
Decision and Reasons With the examiner’s proposed modifications, the Neighbourhood Plan is judged to have met the basic conditions laid down in paragraph 8 (2) of Schedule 4B of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990, is compatible with EU obligations and the convention rights and complies with the relevant provisions made by or under Section 38A and B of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 as amended. The referendum held on Thursday 27th June 2019 met the requirements of the Localism Act 2011, it was held in the parish of Hatfield Peverel and posed the questions;
Page 13 of 48 “Do you want Braintree District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Hatfield Peverel to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
The result of the referendum was: Response Votes Cast Percentage of total votes cast YES 847 92.66% NO 66 7.22%
The District Council has assessed that the Neighbourhood Plan, including its preparation, and conclude that it does not breach or would otherwise be incompatible with, any EU obligation or any of the Convention rights (within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998).
Therefore, in accordance with the relevant Regulations, the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan is “made” and shall form part of the Development Plan for Braintree District Council.
Page 14 of 48 COUNCIL 16th December 2019
LEADER’S REPORT TO COUNCIL – OVERALL Agenda No: 12a STRATEGY AND DIRECTION
1. Meeting with Leader of Chelmsford City Council – 9th October 2019
Together with the Chief Executive I met with Councillor Stephen Robinson, Leader of Chelmsford City Council, and the Chelmsford Chief Executive. We briefed each other on current issues affecting our Authorities and discussed ways in which the two Councils might work closer together in the future.
2. Braintree District Council and Uttlesford District Council Meeting to Discuss Garden Communities – 14th October 2019
Councillor John Lodge, Leader of Uttlesford District Council, and the Council’s Chief Executive visited Braintree and met with myself and Andy Wright. We discussed issues relating to the two Councils’ Local Plans. We spent time, in particular, exchanging views and ideas about potential developments on our joint border.
3. Transport East Forum – 21st October 2019
This meeting was held at Suffolk County Council in Ipswich. Items on the agenda included:-
• Inquiry into reducing carbon emissions in the East of England • Transport Strategy and Regional Evidence Base • Developing the role of Transport East • Presentation on England’s Economic Heartland Outline Transport Strategy
Papers can be seen at www.transporteast.org.uk
4. Strategy Workshop – 25th October 2019
The Cabinet held a half day workshop to consider initial thoughts and ideas on the Council’s Budget for 2020-21.
5. Meeting at Essex County Council re JAM’s Projects - 6th November 2019
Along with representatives of other District and Borough Councils in Essex I responded to a request from Councillor Louise McKinley, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Childrens’ Services, to consider a proposal to exempt from Council Tax Care Leavers.
I have reproduced below an extract from the County Council’s briefing note.
Page 15 of 48 “This proposal outlines the case for Essex County Council to request an exemption for care leavers to have no liability for Council Tax. This will support a more optimistic financial position for them avoid poverty and have the best chance at independence. In addition, in response to the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, under the new duty to prevent homelessness, this proposal would be in accordance with government guidance.
Reasons for the recommendation
Corporate Parenting Responsibility
Corporate Parenting is the collective responsibility of the Council and our partners to ensure the care and protection of children and young people in care, including care leavers. We wish to encourage all care leavers to access Education, Employment and Training, but for those in employment a significant proportion of their income goes on Council Tax, particularly apprentices who only get the minimum wage or less.
As responsible corporate parents, we want to assist our care leavers to work towards managing independent living in a positive and supportive way. The pace of escalation of debt by local authorities could be frightening for care leavers - what can start out for many care leavers as falling slightly behind can very quickly escalate to a court summons and enforcement action being taken. The Centre for Social Justice found that 57% of care leavers find it difficult to manage money and avoid debt.
Our role as corporate parents should allow children in care the chance to:
• Have stability and form healthy attachments; • support their health, safety and emotional wellbeing; • provide education and training opportunities; • have opportunities to engage in leisure and community activities; • Have the right support to move on into adult life.
Independence is expected at a young age
Care leavers go from being looked after and having their needs met, to living independently with a whole new set of often overwhelming responsibilities without the family support that most other young people can rely upon. Once care leavers have a tenancy, they can find it difficult to afford their independent accommodation. Many are not realistically prepare for the realities of managing their own household budget, or handling negotiations with a landlord. Care leavers can be vulnerable to homelessness, particularly when they struggle to maintain tenancies.
We know that the predicted trajectory for a young person evicted, in debt, or being threatened with prison, carries an increased risk of being chronically excluded, and suffering from mental health problems. Our aim is to make the first move into independent accommodation successful and sustainable.
What support is offered already
Leaving Care Teams work in partnership with agencies such as Housing, The Department of Work and Pensions, Adult Social Care, Health Services, and the Voluntary Sector to ensure that young people leaving care are provided with opportunities and appropriate pathways to achieve independence. Each young person has a tailored package of support, led by their Pathway Plan, to ensure that their progress to achieving successful independence is timely and sustained. All care leavers are allocated a Personal Advisor from the Leaving Care Team to support and advise them and we endeavour to make leaving care and living alone a positive opportunity.
Page 16 of 48 What other authorities have done this?
The numbers of councils exempting care leavers from council tax is growing and many of our East Region neighbours have committed to this, including Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Most care leavers will be exempt already by virtue of being in Education or in receipt of benefits, so this commitment would be a benefit to a small number of care leavers. How this has been implemented has varied between authorities, some have agreed exemption for all care leavers up to the age of 25, some up to 22.
Our Proposal
The proposal for Essex is to exempt care leavers to the age of 21, this would provide up to a maximum of 3 years, dependent on when the care leaver moved to independent accommodation and would provide a period of time for them to develop the skills required to manage budgets working with their Personal Advisor. We also expect Care Leavers to take up financial management training and support to ensure that they develop greater resilience into adulthood. This is the most straightforward to administer. The children’s Commissioner recommends that the upper age limit be set at 25 however it would mean exemptions of up to 4 years or 7 years which could give care leavers unrealistic experiences of managing a budget in the longer term and create dependency.
Cost
Based on 2017 calculations, if in Essex we exempted care leavers up to the age of 21 this would potentially benefit approximately 150 young people. The average overall cost across Essex is thought to be around £100k
Measuring Success
Success can be measured in several ways. Care Leavers have Personal Advisors who meet with them regularly. They will be able to report on how they are coping following introduction of this scheme. This will include conversations around how they are coping financially and their wellbeing.
We also expect Care Leavers to attend financial management training, the success of this can be measured in a number of ways including completion of the training, plus through the number of care leavers requiring CCJs and debt advice. We also collect data on care leavers' outcomes already including:
• Living in suitable accommodation (ie they haven't been evicted). • Whether they are engaged in education, training and employment. • We also collect direct feedback from care leavers on their general wellbeing, which is sourced via the Children in Care Council who do regular surveys and consultation events with young people who have left care.
Recommendation
That all District Councils and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner agree in principle to exempt care leavers from council tax up to the age of 21.
Page 17 of 48 The scheme itself will be monitored to ensure that the exemption is having the desired impact on these young people. We will collect data via the means listed above and report back to partners periodically around the impact of the scheme.”
I indicated at the meeting that I would be very willing to recommend to Braintree District Council that it should adopt this proposal.
6. Meeting with Councillor David Finch – 8th November 2019
Councillors Tom Cunningham, John McKee and I met with the Leader of Essex County Council, Councillor David Finch, to discuss Braintree’s approach to Economic Development and our financial and investment initiatives. A further follow up meeting is planned for early December.
7. Success Essex Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) Engagement Session – 11th November 2019
The Greater Essex Business Board (GEBB) has been reconstituted in line with changes that the Government is making to the constitution of Local Enterprise Panels (LEPs). In future there must be a majority of Business members on all LEPs and any associated Federated Boards.
To meet this requirement the GEBB will in future be known as Success Essex. The Chairman is Dr Miles Adcock who is the President Space Imaging at Teledyne e2v based in Chelmsford.
The purpose of this meeting was to consider input into SELEP’s Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) from a North Essex perspective.
Councillor Graham Butland Leader of the Council
Contact: Councillor Graham Butland Designation: Leader of the Council E-mail: [email protected]
Page 18 of 48 C OUNCIL 16 th December 2019
REPORT TO COUNCIL – PORTFOLIO AREA OF Agenda No: 12b FINANCE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Council Tax and Business Rates:
Tax Collection rates
− Council Tax collected to end of October was 68.03% compared to 68.27% for the previous year. The target for the year is 98.3%. Amount collected was £63.97million.
− Business Rates up to the end of October the collection rate was 67.23% compared to 66.98% for the previous year. The target for the year is 98.6%. Amount collected was £29.31million.
The number of dwellings charged 100% council tax premium (empty for two years+) is 212.
Valuation Office Agency.
The Valuation Office Agency has a backlog of assessing in the District new and/or changed dwellings and business premises – 250 dwellings awaiting council tax banding and 90 premises awaiting rateable value or change to rateable value.
Local Government Finance Settlement With the scheduling of the General Election for 12th December the announcement of the settlement for 2020/21 will be somewhat delayed. In the meantime we have responded to a Technical Consultation from MHCLG in October, which included aspects such as council tax raising parameters, potential changes to New Homes Bonus, and the Rural Services Delivery Grant.
Medium Term Financial Strategy and 2020/21 budget formulation Initial budget proposals were shared with the Performance Management Board on 27th November.
Business Rate Pool We have now agreed alongside the 14 other authorities in the current Essex Business Rate Pooling scheme to request that the scheme continues for 2020/21. The estimated share for Braintree is £560,000.
Treasury Management
Following our meeting with our financial advisors we have committed a further £2million to be invested in pooled funds; a first tranche of £1million was invested in the Kames Capital Diversified Income Fund on 8th October.
Page 19 of 48 On 10th November, Arlingclose Limited was awarded a new 3 year contract for treasury management services to the Council.
The mid-year Treasury Management Report was presented to Cabinet on 2nd December and is included as a separate item on this Council meeting agenda.
Customer Service Centre
A review of the service has been carried out to understand whether there is opportunity to better utilise this resource. This has identified areas of capacity which has been allocated to assist in other Council activities including handling online complaints and trade waste inquiries. Other services such as the energy switching scheme and the handyman service may subsequently be added.
Customer Service Excellence
The Customer Service Excellence Standard assessment was held over 5th to 7th November and focused on how we engage with our residents, communities and businesses with an emphasis on hard to reach groups. The assessment included how we communicate service standards and how we have improved the content and quality of verbal, published and web based information.
The Council have been successful in retaining the accreditation for a further year and the feedback that the Assessor gave at the end of his visit was extremely positive and complimentary to both the organisation as a whole, the staff and also around the detail of information that was provided to him. The final report is expected within the next few weeks.
Performance Management – Projects: As at the end of September 2019, five projects are complete and a further 48 projects are on track and progressing well. One project has been cancelled due to the Government delaying the consultation on its proposed 75% Business Rate retention scheme and the Fair Funding Review which are now expected to impact on the Council’s finances from 2021/22.
Performance Management – indicators: Ten performance indicators have met or exceeded target and five performance indicators have missed their target of which one missed by less than 5% and four missed by more than 5%.
Financial Performance. The second quarter shows a positive variance of £715k for the year (£21k underspend on salaries, £192k underspend on other expenditure and £502k additional income) Variances identified at this quarter have been assessed in terms of their potential impact on the Council’s emerging proposals for the 2020/21 Budget.
Human Resources
Employee of the Month Our employee of the month for October is Jenny Izard from the Revenues Department. Jenny is our Collections and Welfare Officer for the Recovery Team within the Revenues Department.
Page 20 of 48 Jenny had an appointment with a customer in September to discuss their Council Tax arrears, however on attending the appointment they presented themselves as fleeing a Domestic Violence situation with their baby.
Jenny treated the customer with such care, respect and kindness and put them in touch with Housing and other services to help their situation. Jenny spent a lot of time with the customer reassuring them she would do everything she could to help and keep the customer and their baby safe.
I feel Jenny went over and above her duty with the customer as what was just meant to be a discussion of Council Tax arrears ended up being a complete life changing situation for the customer whom was in fear of both their and their baby's life.
Governance The General Election was due to be delivered on 12th December, A Neighbourhood Plan Ballot was held in Hatfield Peverel on 28th November.
Councillor David Bebb Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance
Contact: Cllr David Bebb Designation: Cabinet Member for Finance & Performance Management E-mail: [email protected]
Page 21 of 48 COUNCIL 16th December 2019
REPORT TO COUNCIL – PORTFOLIO AREA OF HOMES Agenda No: 12c
HOUSING
New Affordable Housing
From 1st April to the end of October 2019, there have been 91 affordable housing completions.
The spread of the developments in our affordable housing programme is particularly pleasing. During this financial year, we are expecting new homes in:-
• Braintree; • Halstead; • Witham; • Cressing; • Earls Colne; • Great Bardfield; • Kelvedon; • Sible Hedingham; and • Silver End.
For the year April 2019 to March 2020, it is anticipated that there will be a minimum of 200 affordable housing completions from a number of different developments. We normally seek a 70/30 split of rent/shared ownership and our overall numbers will reflect that; we expect around 60 homes for shared ownership to be included in this programme.
It is also anticipated for the current year that construction will commence on approximately 300 new homes which will see many of them completed during 2020/21. Although the programme for next year is still evolving, we are currently forecasting a similar outcome to the current year of around 200 affordable completions.
Housing Options
Two new initiatives are now running in the District: the Rough Sleeper Initiative and the Horizons project. The former focusses on individuals who are rough sleeping and will attempt engagement with any rough sleeper, the latter has a specific cohort of ten individuals with multiple needs who are either homeless/at risk of homelessness or unsuitably housed and who also exhibit offending behaviour and substance misuse.
Both projects are producing positive early signs for some individuals and agencies are working together to optimise chances of longer-term success.
Officers continue to work with customers to achieve good outcomes and are still on
Page 22 of 48 course to exceed the 2018-19 performance.
Further funding of the Flexible Housing Support Grant and Homelessness Grant has been announced by Central Government for 2020/2021: this will provide support for staffing costs in the service until the end of 2023/24 and enable officers to put forward proposals for additional projects
Councillor Kevin Bowers Cabinet Member for Homes
Contact: Councillor Kevin Bowers Designation: Cabinet Member for Homes E-mail: [email protected]
Page 23 of 48 COUNCIL 1622ndth FebruaryDecember 20-1 h2019
REPORT TO COUNCIL – PORTFOLIO AREA OF ECONOMIC Agenda No: 12d DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Skills
On 19th November 2019 we were extremely pleased to partner with BuzzStart Academy, supported by the Digital Skills Partnership at the South East LEP, to deliver a Facebook Digital Skills workshop. 77 people attended the free event, including 35 Braintree District businesses, to learn about Innovation and Social Media Marketing. It was so successful that we were approached to host a Google Digital Garage event which will happen tomorrow (Tuesday 17th December 2019) and we expect numbers to be around the same. Both events are hosted at Colchester Institute’s STEM Innovation Campus whose excellent facilities enabled us to showcase the breadth of learning opportunities also available in Braintree.
Attendees at Facebook Digital Skills workshop
Christmas 2019
Page 24 of 48 Town Centres
Saturday 16th November 2019 saw Braintree town centre light up for Christmas with our most successful event yet. We were extremely proud to work with partners and town centre businesses to deliver over 100 street market stalls across the town centre, a 1920s pop up bar in the Town Hall and three Christmas light switch ons. We were delighted to have 10 local performers entertain the crowds on the stage in Market Place including choirs from Beckers Green Primary School, St. Michael’s C of E, John Ray Junior School and Notley Green Primary School who performed exceptionally.
For his dedication and passion for tackling the litter problem where he lives, our Young Inspirational Role Model of the Year, Daniel Walker, with the assistance of the Chairman, turned on the Christmas lights.
We have received unsolicited feedback from residents such as; ‘My family and I visited the Christmas Market this year on the 16/11/2019. The market was fantastic! We looked at so many different stalls and took part in lots of activities which really made us proud to live in the town… We wanted to compliment your team for a fantastic job and a well-planned event! Please can you pass this on to your team and the Market Stall providers. Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!’
Page 25 of 48 Superfast Broadband
Following general enquiries from members of the public regarding why some premises were not in plans for connectivity over other nearer neighbours who were, data analysis was conducted to identify and plot the cabinets and planned cabinets against the list of premises not currently in plans. This was conducted to highlight premises that have no identifiable reason not to be connected, which could possibly highlight potential data anomalies. Superfast Essex has been presented with data from Coggeshall for an initial investigation to explore if the existing list of premises not in plans for connectivity contain errors.
Business Engagement and Support Survey
Results to date of the Business Engagement and Support survey have shown an 83% increase in responses since last reported in 2018/19. Respondents were distributed evenly across Braintree, Witham and Halstead with local networking/events, access to Superfast Broadband and funding opportunities being the top three areas that businesses require support in. Online marketing is the main digital skill that businesses require support in. This will be fed back to the Digital Strategy Board for an action plan to be explored. Satisfaction with the Council’s business support services has increased from 33% to 60%. Only 5% of respondents knew who to contact for business support at the Council. We are therefore working with the Comms Team to communicate the work of the Economic Development Team to counteract this.
Councillor Tom Cunningham Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Infrastructure
Contact: Councillor Tom Cunningham Designation: Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Infrastructure E-mail: [email protected]
Page 26 of 48 COUNCIL 16th December 2019
REPORT TO COUNCIL – PORTFOLIO AREA OF Agenda No: 12e CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION
STRATEGIC INVESTMENT PROGRAM
Manor Street Regeneration Project Significant progress continues to be made on various work-streams connected to the delivery of the Manor Street project.
Agreement has been reached, with ECC Passenger Transportation, on arrangements for bus stands during construction.
Kier Construction continue to make good progress with pre-construction design and procurement of sub-contractor works packages. In the process, they have identified and satisfactorily resolved some setting-out and boundary issues.
The Members Reference Group has assumed responsibility for oversight of the town centre pedestrianisation project as a logical extension of the Manor Street regeneration scheme.
Horizon 120 Business Innovation Park Significant progress continues to be made on various work-streams connected to the delivery of Horizon 120. The draft Local Development Order, and Design Code, are being reviewed by Development Control officers and will be subject to a line by line review, with the Strategic Investment Team.. Balfour Beatty have completed the initial feasibility stage and will now be commencing the pre-construction phase, which will include the earthworks. A physical start on site is now anticipated in March 2020.
The team continues to liaise, with Gridserve, to seek to align the parties’ respective development programmes and to help effect a successful opening of the new electric vehicle charging forecourt. This co-operation is being conducted on a good will basis and without any liability on the part of the Council.
The option agreement, with Marshgate Developments, is now in final form and will be exchanged in November and by the time this report is issued it will be executed.
Enterprise Centres
Witham Enterprise Centre Regrettably, there has been no progress in achieving the transfer of the site, from the developer who are now significantly in breach of the S106 agreement. The matter is being pursued by the Legal Services team.
Page 27 of 48 Horizon 120 Enterprise Centre A technical team is being selected and appointed with a view to a committed programme of design development in the new year.
I-Construct, Construction Innovation Hub Due diligence is continuing to finalise the specification of works, and the construction contract sum, in anticipation of a start on site early in the new year. At the time of writing, the Council has still not received confirmation of the terms of the ERDF grant finance.
Housing Development Sites Due diligence continues, with a registered housing association with the intention of an exchange of contracts, subject to planning permission, early in the new year.
The Council has received an expression of interest, in the Chapel Hill site from a housing developer.This will be explored in more detail and referred to the Members Reference Group for consideration.
Sible Hedingham Medical Centre (Premdor Land) The Strategic Investment team has been liaising with Bloor Homes regarding site contamination information and have now received a contamination report from Bloor and are seeking a payment from Bloor Homes to deal with the identified contamination issue.The Council will not complete the transfer of this land until the contamination issue has been resolved.
The team has sought and is pursuing confirmation, from Mid-Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, that the two-storey design solution is agreed. On receipt of this, a planning application will be submitted.
COMMERCIALISATION, INCOME GENERATION, & EFFICIENCY Getting Maximum value from third party spend Review of all third party spend now complete and there are three areas to take forward following sign off : • Resourcing contract review • Insurance arrangements review • Category and Contract Management knowledge share
Increasing Income
Advertising and Sponsorship In year amortised income of £47k Income activities include: • Additional advertising board on Witham car park • Advertising through contact magazine, support from Jeremy going forward • Shared Sales resource with Basildon to support income generation continues • Business case for Electronic advertising board at Witham created • Support given for Braintree Town Christmas Events
Page 28 of 48 Enterprise Centre 15% increase on revenue from last year. Weekend appointments now being taken to increase utilisation. Year on year comparison indicates the second 6 months of the financial year are busier. It is forecast that income will be optimised through • Introduction of food offer and effective upselling of teas and coffees • Current Fresh sales campaign • Use of centre as training facility, in partnership with training provider • More flexible opening periods
The 19/20 Net income projected across Traded Services is £177,650
ICT & DIGITAL SERVICES There has been a Mid-year 2019 Review of the Digital Strategy and report published and I am pleased to provide a summary of the report.
As a reminder to Members, the Digital Strategy sets out the vision for digital services over the 4-year period of 2018 - 2021. The Strategy sets out how we will meet our challenges and make the best use of technology to deliver better outcomes for our customers.
There are three key themes to our digital strategy: • Digital Council - Improve productivity and performance of our services and our people using technology • Digital Customer - Redesign our digital services to meet the needs of all our customers regardless of age, gender, ability or location, making them so good, convenient and easy to use that people make them their first choice of contact. • Digital District - Improve digital skills and promote access across the district, ensuring that everyone has the capability to access and use digital services.
Digital Council: a series of initiatives to improve technology (Upgrade to MS Office, Office Email, Improved internet links, Cyber Security and flexible working) have been undertaken with more planned for the immediate future.
Digital Customer: wider on-line payments, on-line pest control, website review and identification of improvements for customer usage, planning for accessibility regulations have been the key areas of work to date.
Digital District: Active and financial participation in the superfast broadband for Essex programme, promotion of digital infrastructure on new developments, working with education providers in the promotion of digital products and usage, as well as planning for wi-fi provision have been the main areas of activity for the team.
The activities on these 3 fronts have been carried out as a series of initiatives, formal projects and collaboration with partners, Education providers and other Local Authorities.
Cyber Security The ICT team continues to maintain its vigilance on all aspects of Cyber security.
WiFi4EU - Free Wi-Fi District Town and Village Centres The WiFi4EU initiative is progressing and site surveys completed by APC. Report sent back to BDC, however this has indicated that to achieve optimal coverage in the three town centres, the equipment will need to be sited on street furniture that requires prior approval and permission from the responsible authorities and owners of buildings e.g. ECC, which is delaying
Page 29 of 48 the installation. This will mean that the Wi-Fi hubs will not be live before Christmas.
COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING
Love Essex We are currently working in partnership with ECC and local authorities across Essex to run a pan Essex reduction in single use plastic campaign which is set to launch in mid January.
Social media Social media ensures good engagement with residents, better customer service and wider sharing of information. In 2007, 22% of the UK population had a social media account, today it’s 73%.The Communications team have been working with HR and Governance to introduce an updated Social media policy which will allow us to set up social media channels for some of our key services. Training and guidance for staff and members has also been produced.
Car Litter Campaign The car litter campaign ran throughout September and October. The campaign launched with a video on social media and press release. Campaign messages were displayed through our usual communication channels, on site messaging at McDonalds and KFC and paid for advertising on 106 petrol pumps.
Keep Britain Tidy Awards Entered Daniel, a young Green Heart Champion into Keep Britain Tidy’s Young Litter Hero Award.
LGC Awards 2020 Entered the Livewell Child project into the LGC Awards We are delighted that we have been shortlisted in the in the 'Public Health' category for our work supporting families live healthier lives and become more active. Read the full shortlist here: https://lnkd.in/gtMXT7F
Councillor John McKee Cabinet Member for Corporate Transformation
Contact: Councillor John McKee Designation: Cabinet Member for Corporate Transformation. E-mail: [email protected]
Page 30 of 48 COUNCIL 16th December 2019
REPORT TO COUNCIL – PORTFOLIO AREA OF Agenda No: 12f COMMUNITIES, CULTURE AND TOURISM
TOURISM
Our Tourism Partnership met for the second time on 3rd October 2019 in the beautiful surroundings of Colne Valley Railway. We were very pleased to unveil our branding for the Visit Braintree District website and associated marketing materials. Businesses within the District are encouraged to contact officers to feature their business on the website to demonstrate the diverse tourism offer we have.
Logo Application to website
Delivery of the tourism website is on schedule as per the project timeline issued by the developers to us. Officers have been receiving training on the relevant systems to ensure we are able to update the content and information on a regular basis. We look forward to launching the website in January 2020.
A social media competition has been launched for residents to submit their best photos of Braintree District for use on the website. We have had an excellent response and look forward to using these to promote the District to residents and visitors.
COMMUNITY SERVICES
Social Isolation and Loneliness
Burst two of the United in Kind campaign “Learn Together” is currently in planning stage and we are looking to launch in January 2020. Members will hopefully have seen the various social media posts regarding United in Kind and acts of kindness. A reminder to those Members who may not have completed the Community Asset Survey that was e-mailed to them along with the information leaflet about social isolation and loneliness. I would be grateful if Members could complete this and return it to the Community Services Team as this information is required for us to target those most in need.
Page 31 of 48 Believing in Communities
This is the second year we have held an event as part of Inter Faith Week. 16 faith representatives attended and were provided with an update as to the various projects and initiatives being delivered and planned under the Community Health and Wellbeing banner. Individual case studies were shared by faith representatives as to projects they have delivered or been involved in.
Baby Stuff Braintree
This is a new charity run entirely by volunteers whose purpose is to provide free clothing and baby equipment suitable for 0-5 year olds to parents/carers in need. Based at The Carousel Centre it runs sessions on the first and third Thursday of the month and all families are welcome to go along and select the items they need.
Maltings Lane Community Facility
The first Steering Group meeting was held on 24th October 2019. Those in attendance included members of the community, young people, St. Nicolas Church, Witham Boys Brigade, Witham Town Council, Ward Members and architects. Terms of Reference for the Steering Group were discussed and agreed. A current position statement was provided and the architects gave some examples of design precedents and land mass plans. Discussion took place regarding accessibility, internal design and features, catering facilities, energy, external space, operation of the building and potential users. The next meeting will take place in January 2020.
Community Transport
We are currently looking at re-branding the Community Transport service to refresh its image and appeal to the whole community. Initial designs have been developed and are being consulted on.
HERITAGE
Town Hall
At the Christmas light switch-on event on 16th November 2019, a 1920s bar was set-up at the Town Hall to complement the craft market and the overall Christmas market. This was extremely successful with the largest number of visitors ever recorded coming through the doors over the course of the day.
The Town Hall Manager, Jenny Mayes, is building links with Kier in relation to the construction of the Manor Street development. This includes an offer of providing space for Kier’s managers to work from.
Bocking Windmill
At the time of writing this report, I would like to advise Members of one last event taking place at Bocking Windmill. Although the visitor season has come to a close, local choir Vocal Reflections will lead in carol singing at the windmill on Sunday 15th December 2019 from 1-3pm which I would encourage Members to attend. I will provide Members with a verbal update on the event at the meeting.
Page 32 of 48 Braintree Museum
Braintree District Museum will be presenting their annual service report to Cabinet on 18th December 2019.
Councillor Frankie Ricci Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Tourism
Contact: Councillor Frankie Ricci Designation: Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Tourism E-mail: [email protected]
Page 33 of 48 COUNCIL 16th December 2019
Agenda Item: 12g REPORT TO COUNCIL – PORTFOLIO AREA OF ENVIRONMENT AND PLACE
OPERATIONS
Replacement of Artificial Grass Pitch (AGP) at Great Notley Country Park. On 28 September, the Council re-opened the AGP at Great Notley Country Park following replacement of the old, worn out surface with a new, high quality upgraded pitch. The event was well attended with various sports activities organised for different aged groups. Dignitaries from supporting organisations e.g. Essex County Council, Braintree Football Club, Community Iron, enjoyed the event and some also participated in the activities.
WASTE & RECYCLING
Quality of Recyclable Waste Collected Kerbside Information from Suffolk County Council has revealed an increase in contamination levels within the recyclable waste collected in the Braintree District compared with previous months. Looking at the trends over the last few years, it can be seen that this is a recurrent feature during school holidays and so, in preparation for the October half-term and Christmas holidays, officers have been working with waste managers and have provided refresher training to crews on what to look out for so that contaminants can be identified at source rather than at the MRF (Materials Recycling Facility). Waste containing contaminated materials will be stickered and left and this will reinforce the need for correct sorting of waste. Our recent communications have featured advice aimed at reducing contamination, but it is proposed to undertake a waste composition analysis, which will indicate where further promotion/education is needed to help residents correctly sort recyclable from residual waste.
Missed Bins The Waste Collection Team continues to drive down the number of missed bins within the District achieving a monthly average of just 3.5 bins missed per 100,000 collections since April 2019.
STREET SCENE
Britain in Bloom The Awards Ceremony was held on 25 October. Halstead won a Gold award for the town and also an Innovation award for a project involving land irrigated with river water.
Essex Playing Field Awards At the Essex Playing Fields Annual General Meeting in October 2019, BDC was presented with 38 awards for the Council’s parks and open spaces. This included 14 Gold awards (4 more than last year); 9 Silver and 15 Certificates of Merit. [These exclude awards for sites not owned by the District Council.)
Page 34 of 48 Witham Town Park also won Runner Up in Class 5 category (playing fields which are professionally maintained and managed by larger authorities and commercial organisations).
Protecting Open Spaces from Illegal Encampments Knee rail fencing has now been installed along an additional stretch of Gershwin Boulevard, Witham, and works have also been completed to protect open space in Rickstones Road, Witham. Further work is planned at Marshalls Park, Braintree, where the Council intends to do some hedge planting (whips) behind the existing metal fence in the car park to enhance security.
A131 Roadside Beautification Project I previously informed Members that we were working with Essex County Council and Keep BritainTidy (KBT) on an initiative to plant wild flowers on 4 section of the verge along the A131 (from Marks Farm to Broad Road, Braintree) reducing the frequency of grass cutting from twice to once a year. As Members will know, I am a staunch advocate of the natural environment and bio-diversity which this trial has helped to support.
The outcome reported by KBT clearly demonstated the effectiveness of roadside planting in enhancing the local environment, reducing litter, and improving public perception. It was interesting to note that 94% of those surveyed by KBT felt that wild flower planting should be replicated on other verges and 95% said it helped improve the appearance of the local area. This was mirrored in comments on social media.
I have asked officers to explore with their colleagues at Essex Highways how this initiative could be developed and potentially extended to other areas of the District including delaying or reducing the frequency of cutting.
Play Area Refurbishments The play area at Brendon Drive, Halstead, has been refurbished. The contract has been awarded for improvement works to Mill Chase, Halstead, Ashpole Road, Bocking, and St. Mary’s Road/Albert Moss, Rivenhall, with work expected to be completed by end December 2019.
Page 35 of 48 Proposed Woodland Burial Site The Council has an area of land at Braintree Cemetery that is deemed unsuitable for normal burials owing to a high water table. However, we have appointed consultants to carry out a Feasibility Study to assess whether the land could be used for a woodland or meadow burial site and/or for scattering of ashes.
We are at the very early stages of the scheme and the outcome of the study will inform the future development/use of this plot of land. The aim is to provide an environ-mentally friendly burial option for our customers which is becoming a more popular alternative to traditional burials and would also contribute to the Council’s Climate Change objectives to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Enforcement The information below shows the work undertaken by the enforcement team from 1 August to 31 October 2019.
60 Dog barking complaints investigated 11 Dog fouling complaints investigated 21 Stray dogs detained (13 BDC / 8 UDC) 8 Statutory Notices served (includes fly-tipping, failure to micro-chip, Anti-social Behaviour, accumulations of waste, Waste Duty of Care, vehicle on private land, noise/odour nuisance, excessive dog barking, dangerous dogs and S.108 Notices) 27 Fixed Penalty Notices served (general litter x 14, littering of cigarette butts x 8, Duty of Care x 1 and Unauthorised Deposits of Waste x 4) 2 Prosecutions taken (both found in the Council’s favour), as follows:- 29/08/19 – Breach of a Community Protection Notice relating to accumulated waste. Defendant received a fine of £200, a Victim Surcharge Order of £30 and full costs of £566 – total £796. 24/10/19 – Breach of Community Protection Notice relating to nuisance and anti-social behaviour. Fined £700, with costs of £474 plus a Victim Surcharge Order of £70 and full costs of £657 – Total £1,427.
Following complaints about people dumping waste at the recycling bank at Oak Road, Rivenhall, the Street Scene Enforcement Team installed a CCTV camera for a 3-month period which resulted in 4 x £100 fixed penalty notices being served and two warnings being issued.
The Team was also notified of fly-tip at a lay-by off Russells Road, Greenstead Green, and a camera was installed. A blatant act of fly-tipping was captured following which the offender was identified, interviewed under caution and served with a £400 fixed penalty notice.
On 28 August 2019 the Street Scene Enforcement Officers were tasked to work with Essex Police in combatting issues reported in a spinney area at Weavers Park. Residents of properties backing onto the area reported lots of noise, bonfires and suspected consumption and dealing of illegal substances. A camera was installed and weekly patrols undertaken, following which an improvement in the extent of anti-social behaviour taking place was noted by Council officers and local residents. Monitoring will continue by both Council officers and Essex Police.
Page 36 of 48 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
Climate Action Working Group The membership of the Group includes: three elected Members alongside representatives of the business community, key partners, an academic expert, a school pupil, Green Heart Champion and representatives from various community groups with an interest and/or experience in tackling climate change. The Working Group held its first meeting last month and will meet every 8 weeks. The group have agreed a work programme for the following year looking at the following subjects.
Where the group come up with ideas or suggestions these will be considered by an officer working group whose job will be - where practical – to put the recommendation /suggestions in to practice and write it in to the Councils new Climate Strategy.
GREEN HEART
Love Essex Car Litter Campaign The car litter campaign ran throughout September and October. The campaign launched with a video on social media and press release. Campaign messages were displayed through our usual communication channels, on site messaging at McDonalds and KFC and paid for advertising on 106 petrol pumps. Pan Essex campaign resulted in: • video views x 100k • x4k engagements • x8 car litter reports (2 in Braintree District) Braintree district figures Facebook Impressions: 5,735 Engagements: 413 Twitter Impressions – 4,035 Engagements – 42 Litter count Average over 3 transections = 15.34% improvement.
Page 37 of 48 ‘Say No to Plastic’ campaign Each year 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced and 40% of that is single use plastic. We are asking residents to take action by reducing their waste and making the switch to more sustainable options. The campaign launched in Contact magazine in September and has been followed up with a social media campaign featuring a video of a lady from Kelvedon who has recently opened a refill shop. Refuse panels are on the vehicles featuring further statistics such as 7.7 billion plastic water bottles; 2.5 billion coffee cups; excessive food packaging; billions of plastic cutlery; plastic film including cling film, 8.5 billion plastic straws and encouraging people to make the switch.
The campaign will relaunch in January, we have identified a young environmentalist named Ollie who will front the campaign and star in our videos #joinOllie. We are currently working with Essex County Council on a pan Essex Campaign which will involve community engagement, pledges, schools, businesses, and social media.
Keep Britain Tidy Awards Entered Daniel, a young Green Heart Champion, into Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Young Litter Hero’ Award.
ESSEX POLICE, FIRE AND CRIME PANEL
As Chairman of the Panel I attended the National Association of Police and Crime Panels Annual Conference at The University of Warwick. Some of the many topics covered were, Strategic Review of Policing, Tackling Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery and Scrutiny of P(F)CC’s Annual Report and Performance.
The EPFCC’s Essex Police Annual Report and Essex Fire and Rescue’s Annual reports can be found on www.essex.pfcc.police.uk/annual
Councillor Mrs Wendy Schmitt Cabinet Member for Environment and Place
Contact: Councillor Mrs Wendy Schmitt Designation: Cabinet Member for Environment and Place E-mail: [email protected]
Page 38 of 48 COUNCIL 1622ndth FebruaryDecember 20-1 h2019
REPORT TO COUNCIL – PORTFOLIO AREA OF PLANNING Agenda No: 12h
Neighbourhood Planning
Following the successful referendum of the Bradwell with Pattiswick Neighbourhood Plan, a referendum on the Hatfield Peverel Neighbourhood Plan took place on 28th November 2019. The plan passed by 92.66% with 847 votes in favour and 66 against.
It has also been agreed that the Cressing Neighbourhood Plan can proceed to referendum. The Council will now act swiftly to arrange a referendum to take place to ensure that Cressing gets the protection it needs from speculative planning applications.
The other neighbourhood plans currently underway continue to make progress with local communities working towards producing a Plan which allows them to have a greater say over how their area develops in the future. Great Saling has recently completed their initial Regulation 14 consultation. Whilst no other neighbourhood plans are under examination, we are expecting the Coggeshall Neighbourhood Plan to be submitted shortly.
In the last few months the Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) have met or provided support to Coggeshall, Stisted, Toppesfield, Feering, Earls Colne and The Salings, advising them on such issues as grant applications, consultation process, and governance structures among other things.
Any other Parishes considering a Neighbourhood Plan are urged to contact officers in the Planning Policy team who will be able to provide bespoke advice and support to each group, including specialist advice from the RCCE on behalf of the Council.
Local Plan
Following on from the completion of the Technical Consultation on 30th September 2019, the North Essex Authorities (Braintree, Colchester and Tendring) received just over 1000 comments from 779 people or organisations. All these comments are now available to view online on the Council’s consultation portal.
The responses have now been sent to the Inspector.
The Inspector has written to the NEAs with the timetable for the re-opened examination which starts on 14th January 2020 running to 30th January 2020. We have also received the Inspector’s Matters Issues and Questions (MIQs) which outlines the areas he wishes to discuss, a timetable showing what will be discussed on each day, and a guidance note. All these details are available on the Council’s examination webpage. https://www.braintree.gov.uk/info/200643/section_1/1065/section_1_examination_publi cation_local_plan/4
Page 39 of 48 The NEAs had until 2nd December 2019 to submit statements to each of the MIQ’s and to complete any Statements of Common Ground, all of which will be published on the examination page.
Conservation Area Appraisals
The Council has completed Conservation Area Appraisals for Wethersfield, Great Bardfield and Kelvedon and Feering.
In terms of consultation responses, 5 comments were received for Feering, Kelvedon received 8 comments, Great Bardfield had 2 comments, and Wethersfield had 44 comments. All comments are available to view on the Council’s online consultation portal.
It is expected that this will be going to Committee in the New Year.
We will also be commissioning further appraisals in the New Year for Braintree (including Bradford Street) Conservation Area along with up to three other conservation areas. In terms of the selection process, officers consider the time elapsed since the area was designated or last appraised, the level of development pressure it is under, and the number of heritage assets and other features such as trees within it. It is vitally important that the Conservation Areas are correctly designated for their architectural and historic interest in order not to undermine the value and importance of a conservation designation. Conservation Areas do not stop development from taking place, but ensure that when development takes place it is of a standard appropriate to that conservation area. The conservation areas also come with management plans which suggests ways in which they can be managed and maintained to ensure they retain their designation in the long term.
Development Management
Planning Permissions for New Residential Development
The Quarter 3 2019/20 position to date (October to December 2019) is that planning permissions (this includes outline and full planning applications, but excludes reserved matters approvals and variation applications) have been granted for a total of 127 dwellings (as at 25th November 2019) which can be summarised as follows:-
Market Housing Affordable Housing TOTAL
Granted by BDC on 55 25 80 Allocated site and/or within Development Boundary
Granted by BDC on 20 0* 20 Unallocated site and/or outside Development Boundary
Allowed at Appeal on 3 17 20 Allocated site / within
Page 40 of 48 Development Boundary
Allowed at Appeal on 7 0 7 Unallocated site / outside Development Boundary
TOTAL 85 42 127
*Financial contribution towards provision of off-site Affordable Housing secured (18/01673/FUL – Site at Tey Road, Coggeshall)
Development Management Performance
National GOV BDC Q1 Q2 Q3* Q4 Indicator Target Target % % % % for for 2019/20 2019/20
NI 157a 60% 70% 64.7% 85.7% 72.7% N/A (Majors)
NI157b 70% 70% 71.5% 74.9% 74.6% N/A (Minors)
NI 157c 70% 85% 78.3% 85.0% 85.6% N/A (Others)
* Draft Figures to date (up to date as of 25.11.2019)
The above performance for Q1 and Q2 means that Development Management have met the minimum Government Targets for the last two consecutive quarters, and have met the Braintree District Council Targets for the first time since Q1 2017/18.
While the service remains under significant pressure due to the volume of current applications and current staffing resource, the above performance demonstrates positive progress is being made within the service. Recruitment to the four vacant posts within Development Management is currently underway.
Councillor Gabrielle Spray Cabinet Member for Planning
Contact: Councillor Gabrielle Spray Designation: Cabinet Member for Planning E-mail: [email protected]
Page 41 of 48 COUNCIL 1622ndth FebruaryDecember 20-1 h2019
REPORT TO COUNCIL – PORTFOLIO AREA OF HEALTH AND Agenda No: 12i WELLBEING
MENTAL HEALTH
Walk and Talk for Men
Walk & Talk 4 Men is a support group for men and their mental health. They get together a couple of times a month and have a stroll around a country park whilst having a chat in a safe place without judgement. This initiative was started by one individual who himself had suffered with his mental health and now has over 600 followers on social media. The walks are led by volunteers.
Walks took place on Sunday 17th November in Braintree, Halstead and Witham. Those attending were extremely positive and felt they were able to share experiences and common ground in a relaxed atmosphere.
Tea and Talk
The Livewell campaign has so far concentrated on the physical wellbeing of our staff and we are now looking at the importance of emotional wellbeing. As part of World Mental Health Day on 10th October 2019 we held a tea and talk session where staff could drop in with the aim of encouraging conversations and reducing the taboo of mental health. The members of staff who attended shared their experiences in a confidential and comfortable environment. We are now looking at a programme throughout 2020 to support staff with their emotional health and wellbeing.
Mental Health Priorities
The fifth Mental Health Workshop took place on 21st November 2019 with approx. 30 people in attendance from a variety of statutory and community/voluntary services. Presentations were given by EPUT (Essex Partnership University Trust) setting out primary and secondary mental health services and the forward plans from the merger of the CCGs in 2020.
The CCG presented plans for the Enhanced Community Dementia Teams which will be locality based and recruitment to these teams is currently taking place with the aim of them being operational from April 2020. The CCG are also exploring the possibility of establishing a 24/7 mental health crisis café for the Braintree District. Further updates will be given as this progresses.
The Change Project provided an input on the perpetrator outreach service which focuses on standard and medium risk perpetrators and aims to challenge behaviour and promote healthy relationships.
A presentation from Walk & Talk 4 Men provided an input into why the organisation was established, what it has achieved and plans for the future. An individual who
Page 42 of 48 participated in the first walk is now volunteering and leading his own walks and managing the social media.
Updates were given on the five current priorities:-
• Livewell website – a Feelwell section has been added to the site and members were asked to suggest any further content to the Livewell Comms Officer. • Awareness raising – continuing to promote the Every Mind Matters campaign through the various social media channels. • Data mapping – a variety of data sets relating to mental health continue to be developed and request was made to members to share any data sources they have. • Children and young people – the information received back from the surveys has been collated and highlights the range of different services available to schools, the majority of which seem to be provided by the community and voluntary sector. Further work to be carried out and discussions to be had as to how to collate this information. • Referral pathway – no new update, however further promotion of Livewell Linkwell to be carried out by partners.
Dementia
The Braintree District Dementia Alliance hosted a Community Information Day on Thursday 28th November from 10.30 – 1.30 at Braintree Museum. The event was a drop in for people to come and find out about services and activities available in the local area and also featured a seated exercise demonstration and a dementia friends session. Agencies in attendance included the Dementia Choir, Care UK, Drivability, First Stop, Community Transport, etc.
Carers First
Carers First hosted a face-to-face surgery on Tuesday 3rd December 2019 at Causeway House for those that look after someone or are looked after. The surgery gave people the opportunity to gain information and advice on the support available to carers across the Braintree District. If Members would like further information please contact 0300 303 1555 or visit www.carersfirst.org.uk or e-mail [email protected].
SPORT, HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Braintree District Sports Awards
The sixth year of the Braintree District Sports Awards was celebrated at an event on 18th November 2019. The evening was dominated by a number of world class athletes and their sports clubs, with well in excess of 100 nominations made across the 10 categories. The Active Braintree Foundation judging panel had a tough job selecting the shortlist.
The Young Sports Personality was won by Freia Challis from Braintree BMX club, who won the 2019 world BMX championships in Zolder, Belgium, this summer. Braintree Martial Arts Club who were crowned world champions in Bratislava won Club of the Year with their mentor/sensei David Wilson also winning Coach of the Year.
Page 43 of 48 Great Bradfords Football Club Chairman Sharon Mills won the Unsung Hero for her fantastic efforts in supporting the club in gaining county recognition by the Football Association as the Community Football Club of the year in Essex.
The full list of winners as follows:-
• Sports Personality – Sue Clarke – Duathlon for Mid Essex Casuals • Young Sports Personality – Freia Challis – Braintree BMX Club • Unsung Hero – Sharon Mills – Great Bradfords Football Club • Sports Coach – David Wilson – Braintree Martial Arts Centre • Lifetime Services – George Cook – Halstead Boxing Club • Physical Activity Project – Walk & Talk dementia and carer project • Sports Club of the Year – Braintree Martial Arts Centre • Young Community Volunteer – Haydn Hawkins – Great Notley Parkrun and Braintree District Athletics Club • Services to Disability Sport – Tom Doughty – Sport for Confidence Witham Leisure Centre • Active School or College – Howbridge Junior School Witham
Several of the winners have been shortlisted for the Active Essex County awards in December.
Braintree Martial Arts Centre
I wish to take this opportunity to highlight the great achievements of the above club who were winners of the Club of the Year award. The Braintree Karate Club based on the Springwood Industrial Estate in Braintree is probably one of the best Karate Clubs in the country which is evidenced by the number of successful events their club members have had this year.
In April club members entered the Karate England National Championships; they came away with seven gold medals, two silver and four bronze medals.
In June several club members were chosen to represent Great Britain at the World Championships in Bratislava. Two of the members came back as World Champions with other club members winning two silver and one bronze medals.
In October club members represented Great Britain in the European Championships held in Denmark. They won a total of three individual silver medals, one team silver medal and two team bronze medals.
The club is proud of its work locally which includes giving free classes to local Braintree schools including Edith Borthwick Special School and to local guides/brownies/ cubs/scout groups. The club also provides free classes for women and gives assistance to various clubs/ schools etc. with displays at their school fetes, and actively encourages whole families to participate.
Livewell Child Livewell Child is now in its final year of the three year pilot. This final year is concentrating on how to involve the wider community in tackling childhood obesity. One activity currently in operation is at Beckers Green Primary School where a community weight loss programme is being held.
Page 44 of 48 “Play champions” have been introduced into Richard de Clare school where older students are taught how to organise playground games which involve the whole school in physical activity. At Powers Hall Infants School in Witham, an activity focusing on meals and snacks has been introduced which provides parents and carers with healthy meal plans and cooking tips. Community 360 has facilitated initiatives between care homes and our Livewell Child Braintree schools to link up schools with nearby care homes to provide benefits for both generations.
Finally, discussions are well underway regarding options for rolling out Livewell Child to schools both in this District and across Essex. I will give further details in subsequent reports.
One Million More Active in England
The highest ever levels of activity have been recorded by Sport England’s latest Active Lives Adult Survey, with 1 million more people physically active than when the survey began.
Based on data gathered from 180,000 respondents (aged 16+) in the 12 months from May 2018 to May 2019, 1,015,700 more people are active compared to when the survey started, in 2015.
That takes the total number of active people nationally, doing at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week, up to 28.6 million.
The number of inactive people doing fewer than 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week is down to 11.2 million, a decrease of 131,700 since 2015 and the lowest figure ever recorded by the survey.
The results show that this improvement has been driven by women and older adults (aged 55+) – groups.
Braintree Districts Results
Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey May 2018 2019
Residents that Residents that Residents that are classed as are classed as are classed as Active Fairly Active Inactive (150+ minutes a (30-149 minutes a (<30 minutes a week) week) week)
2018/19 BDC 61.1% 17% 22% Percentage
Change in the last 12 No significant 6.5% Significant No significant months Change increase Change
Change from Up 10.9% Down 8.5% No significant baseline 2015 Significant Significant Change increase decrease
Page 45 of 48 Public Health Profile
The Braintree District Public Health Profile, which gives a picture of our residents’ health, was recently released. Below is a summary of the main highlights.
Health in Summary The health of people in Braintree has a number of comparative results compared with the England average.
Life Expectancy Life expectancy for men is higher than the England average. However, life expectancy is 5.5 years lower for men and 5.0 years lower for women in the most deprived areas of Braintree.
Child Health In Year 6, 17.7% (293) of children are classified as obese, lower than the average for England.
Levels of smoking in pregnancy are better than the England average.
Adult Health The rate for alcohol-related harm hospital admissions is lower than the average for England. The rate for self-harm hospital admissions is better than the average for England. The rates of new sexually transmitted infections and new cases of tuberculosis are lower than the England average. However, the rates of hip fractures in older people (aged 65+) are worse than the England average.
Further details are available on the following link:- https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes- framework/data#page/3/gid/1000041/pat/6/par/E12000006/ati/101/are/E07000067/iid/9 0630/age/199/sex/4.
Councillor Peter Tattersley Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing
Contact: Councillor Peter Tattersley Designation: Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing E-mail: [email protected]
Page 46 of 48 COUNCIL 16th December 2019
List of Public Meetings Held Since Last Council Agenda No: 13 Meeting
Portfolio Not applicable Corporate Outcome: Not applicable Report presented by: Not applicable Report prepared by: Chloe Waight, Governance Business Officer
Background Papers: Public Report
Published Minutes of the meetings listed within the report Key Decision: No below.
Executive Summary:
Since the last Council meeting held on 22nd July 2019, the following Minutes have been published for meetings held in public session:
This incorporates the list of meetings not considered at the meeting of Full Council held on 7th October 2019.
(1) Corporate Governance Group – 25th July 2019 (2) Planning Committee – 30th July 2019 (3) Special Meeting of Full Council – 1st August 2019 (4) Partnership Development Group – 21st August 2019 (5) Performance Management Board – 3rd September 2019 (6) Cabinet – 9th September 2019 (7) Planning Committee – 10th September 2019 (8) Licensing Committee – 11th September 2019 (9) Planning Committee – 18th September 2019 (10) Planning Committee – 24th September 2019 (11) Braintree Local Highways Panel – 25th September 2019 (12) Partnership Development Group – 2nd October 2019 (13) Council – 7th October 2019 (14) Planning Committee – 8th October 2019 (15) Local Plan Sub- Committee – 17th October 2019 (16) Planning Committee – 22nd October 2019 (17) Corporate Governance Group – 24th October 2019 (18) Community Development Group – 30th October 2019 (19) Planning Committee – 5th November 2019 (20) Licensing Committee – 13th November 2019 (21) Planning Committee – 19th November 2019 (22) Partnership Development Group – 20th November 2019 (23) Performance Management Board – 27th November 2019 (24) *Cabinet – 2nd December 2019
Page 47 of 48 (25) *Planning Committee – 3rd December 2019 (26) *Appointment Committee - 4th December 2019 *Those minutes identified by the prefix * were not available at the time of publishing the Agenda, but are intended to be available to view on the Council's website prior to the meeting.
Recommended Decision:
Members are invited to note the Minutes published.
Purpose of Decision: Not applicable.
Page 48 of 48